House probe finds 'substantial evidence' of criminal misconduct, ethics violations by Cherfilus-McCormick

Anthony Man, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Jan 29, 2026

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An investigative subcommittee that spent months examining U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick has found “substantial evidence of conduct” described in a criminal indictment against her last year and is bringing multiple charges against her.

The House Ethics Committee announced the findings of its investigative subcommittee on Thursday. The Republican chairman and top Democrat on the committee said they would convene an adjudicatory subcommittee — made up of different members from those who’ve been involved in the probe so far — to further examine the Cherfilus-McCormick case.

The Florida Democrat was elected in a January 2022 special election to fill the vacancy created by the death of U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings. In late 2021, she spent heavily on her Democratic primary campaign, ultimately winning by five votes.

In November, Cherfilus-McCormick and other alleged co-conspirators were indicted on charges described by the Justice Department as “stealing federal disaster funds, laundering the proceeds, and using the money to support her 2021 congressional campaign.”

The “statement of alleged violations” from the investigative subcommittee delves into many of the issues in the indictment and other allegations previously raised about Cherfilus-McCormick’s conduct as a candidate and as a member of Congress.

The subcommittee’s work “has revealed substantial evidence of conduct consistent with the allegations in the indictment, as well as more extensive misconduct” including violation of federal laws and regulations and ethical standards.

The findings, adopted by the investigative subcommittee on Dec. 16 and released by the full Ethics Committee on Thursday, found “substantial reason to believe that a violation of the Code of Official Conduct, or of a law, rule, regulation or other standard of conduct applicable to the performance of the official duties or the discharge of official responsibilities … has occurred.”

Cherfilus-McCormick’s spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. The congresswoman has consistently denied any wrongdoing, but has not entered a plea in the criminal case.

In a Jan. 20 filing with the committee, released by the panel on Thursday, D. Michael Stroud, an attorney for Cherfilus-McCormick, said she “disputes and refutes the allegations and report” of the investigative subcommittee.

Citing the “pending criminal matter” Cherfilus-McCormick filed a motion to dismiss the proceedings and, if that motion is not granted, a motion to pause any further House ethics proceedings until the criminal matter is resolved. Her filing said a stay, or pause, in the proceedings is required under established precedent. “To not do so, would risk compromising (her) … constitutional rights in the criminal proceedings.”

The investigative subcommittee said its work involved 30 requests for information and that it issued 59 subpoenas, reviewed “over 33,000 documents totaling hundreds of thousands of pages of materials and conducted 28 witness interviews.”

It said Cherfilus-McCormick “initially produced some documents” to the panel. It said she agreed to a voluntary interview, but the day before it was scheduled informed the committee that “she was no longer available.” The committee said it then subpoenaed her for more documents and to testify, and Cherfilus-McCormick invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

The report detailed 27 counts against the congresswoman.

Among the subcommittee’s allegations:

— “Excessive contributions from multiple individuals and entities, corporate contributions, illegal conduit contributions, and systemic reporting violations.”

— “Failure to file, and knowing and willful filing of inaccurate information on, required Financial Disclosure Statements.”

— Providing “special favors in connection with government appropriations for community project funding requests.”

— “Commingling personal and campaign funds, conduct that does not reflect creditably upon the House, and conduct that does not adhere to the spirit and/or letter of the Rules of the House and federal laws.”

— “Money laundering of government funds improperly retained by Trinity Health Care Services, LLC, and of illegal campaign contributions originating from Petrogaz-Haiti S.A., LLC, and false statements on reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.” Trinity was the family-owned health care company Cherfilus-McCormick ran before she was elected.

The Trinity issue involves an overpayment of $5.8 million to Trinity Health Care by the state, which hired Trinity to administer vaccines and deploy canvassers to sign people up to get vaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic. It kept the money, and agreed to repay it over time to settle a state lawsuit years later.

The investigative committee said that it examined her unsuccessful 2018 and 2020 campaigns and found she sometimes failed to file required reports and “the reports she did file contain numerous inaccuracies.”

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